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Month-Long Promotions Taking A Toll On Black Friday Week

It looks like retailers’ best-laid plans to take consumers out of the market with early, month-long promotions are working — to the detriment of Black Friday week.

According to Verizon’s 2017 Holiday Retail Index, e-commerce traffic was down dramatically over the weekend before Thanksgiving when compared with last year.

Specifically, e-commerce traffic declined 18 percent year over year on Saturday, Nov. 18, while traffic fell 15 percent the following day (Nov. 19) from year-ago levels, the company reported.

The index tracks e-commerce traffic across Verizon’s broadband networks to the top 25 U.S. e-tailers as ranked by revenue.

Beside a bevy of staggered November sales events — or perhaps because of them — Verizon believes consumers aren’t quite ready to dive into the promotional melee. “Despite the early rollout of Black Friday deals, our findings suggest that consumers are not laser-focused yet on holiday shopping,” postulated Michele Dupré, group VP, retail, hospitality and distribution, Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “The good news is there’s still fertile ground, and if you didn’t have a blockbuster weekend, you’re still in the game.”

Verizon plans to monitor e-tail traffic throughout the holiday season, and TWICE plans to regularly share its findings with you.